Well, I did better than I usually do during NaNoWriMo – and there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind it’s due to your good wishes and encouragement – but I blew it again.
Didn’t get 50,000 words. Didn’t even come close. Completely whizzed it.
Actually I’m starting to get kind of fascinated as how difficult this is for me. I remember when I was a teenager that writing fiction was effortless. (I’m not saying that I didn’t write miles of shit, but it was effortlessly-produced shit.) Now it’s this squinchy-eyed, brain-squeezing, painful exercise. It feels like I’m trying to do algebra in a second language I’m not good at. I plink, I plod, I set down a line of dialogue and feel like I’ve run a marathon.
I’ve written non-fiction books. I have regular conversations with my brain that get written down (mostly on my Facebook page – I need to update ME TRIES TO WORK.) I have very, very strange dreams that prove at least bits of me are creative. Remind me to tell you about That’s Our Sylvia.
And yet writing fiction – just writing a story – is elusive, painful, frustrating, headache-inducing.
I’m going to maintain a sense of humor about the whole thing and keep chipping away at it. If it’s this hard to do, I’m sure there’s something to gain in learning (or possibly re-learning) to do it.
Meanwhile last week at work was crazy so I have lots of ResearchBuzz to share with you. Prepare for the deluge.
Have I told you lately that I love you? I love you. Thank you for your support and your encouraging words and the boost you gave me, even if I flunked it. I’ll keep trying.
Tara
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NaNoWriMo is like running a marathon, and while you’ve been bicycling and walking regularly, you haven’t been running. And when you do it, you’re engaging different muscles, and they get sore, and your knees hurt, and getting back to it is tough because you may have pulled something.
If you want to kick NaNoWriMo’s ass, you need to “run” a few times a week between now and next November. You need to have the rust shaken off and the muscles conditioned. Then you’ll nail it.
Hey Greg, I do write during the year. Yes, I will cop to writing fan fiction and so forth. So I’m trying. It just, oddly, is not getting any easier.
Have you read Ann Patchett? I think any aspiring writer should sit down with her works, especially This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. She is a writer who has honed her skills to a sharp edge, and it shows. Good luck, but do it.
Ann Patchett? She wrote Bird By Bird, right? No, that was Anne Lamont. Why do I always get them mixed up?! I’ll check her out. Thanks.
Hey, at least you took a swing at it! I was a fellow effortless-writer as a kid/teen and lost it somewhere in high school. I’ve been intrigued by NaNo for years but haven’t had the guts to try it. So I’m impressed you did! And next year it’ll be easier with one attempt under your belt, surely.
I hope so! I really do. It’s interesting to me how terrible I am at this! LOL!
For what it’s worth, I blew it too. I write scripts for historical re-enactors, museum theatre etc. and thought I had a handle on it. So wrong, well, there was also the arrival of a book written in French that needs translation…brain hurts.
I totally enjoy your posts. You are a valuable asset in my life!!
Cheers,
Karen
Aw, thank you! We will be the NaNoWriMoOhNo crew. 🙂
Tara – you know what they say about the journey. Be proud you tried. By sharing about your attempt plus all the things you do got me to try this year and I got my 50,000 words done in 26 days! So thank you, and see you next year!
YOU DID??! You are awesome! Are you going to share? That’s TERRIFIC that you got it done!